Friday, December 25, 2015

It's only a matter of one or two weeks before you can expect the next issue of Scripophily magazine in the mailbox. For those who are not subscribed, here is an overview of the stories from the last August issue :

Did you know about the previously rare Suez canal company where about 50 hoard certificates recently appeared?Read about it in Scripophily magazine Nr 98 Aug 2015-image from Wikipedia: Suez Canal from 1881 Young Persons' Cyclopedia of Persons and Places

Scripophily magazine is a publication from the International Bond & Share Society.

The first stock exchange in Brussels was established in 1801 under the government of Napoléon in Belgium. The former Saint Augustine Convent was chosen for the original premises. After the convent buildings were sold, the exchange continued its business in the national mint, the Hôtel des Monnaies. When the mint re-opened in 1820, the brokers rented a house on the Rue Guillaume, now called the Rue Léopold. By the 1850s that building was becoming too small for the growing activity.

In 1858, no fewer than 11 petitions for building a new and larger stock exchange building were handed to the city council. It was the eclectic design of the Belgian architect Léon Suys that was chosen for the new exchange. The building could be entered through several imposing doorways under the decorated pediments.

Banque Auxiliaire de la Boursedetail from the certificate above Also the renewal coupon depicts the exchange.

Not Belgian but English entrepreneurs start building

In 1866, an agreement was made between the city council and the (English) Belgian Public Works Co Ltd for the cleansing and overvaulting of the Zenne river and the erection of the new stock exchange building. The overvaulting made possible the construction of a wide traffic axle between the north and south railway stations. Along this axle, the mayor J Anspach wanted the construction of prestigious buildings: the new exchange would be the crown jewel. BPWC contracted the Waring Brothers, English entrepreneurs in public and railway construction, for the building of the exchange. In 1868 on average, 99 workers and 26 horses were employed on the construction site every day.

Comptoir International de Banque et de Changedetail from the share below

Léon Suys sees a way out during the Franco-German war

In 1869, after the completion of the foundations and the substructure of the building, the architect Suys took over the Warings’ job, becoming both architect and builder. In 1870, the supply of building stone from the French quarries in Anstrude and Ravière was interrupted by the Franco-German war. A solution was found: the quarries on the English Isle of Portland could provide stone of similar colour and quality. The City of Brussels took over the management of the project after BPWC went into liquidation in 1871. Finally in 1873, King Léopold II and Queen Marie-Henriette attended the inauguration ceremony. The building was completed in 1874.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

surrounded by not less than 10 coats of arms of French cities : Paris, Marseille,

Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rouen, Nice, Nantes, Lyon, Lille and St. Étienne.

double-click image to enlarge

Next Friday and Saturday, Mario Boone's 55th international auction of antique stocks & bonds will take place in the heart of Brussels (Hotel NH Carrefour de l'Europe). I've announced this event in my previous post. This time, I want to bring to your attention a special collection to be auctioned during the happening.

Société de Constructions de Levallois-Perretdetail from the certificate above1866 Gustave Eiffel set up his own engineering office at 48 Rue Fouquet in Levallois-Perret. The street was later renamed into Rue Gustave Eiffel.

France, a Walhalla in scripohily
There is no other nation that has left us so many decorative bond and share certificates like France. For many years, I've been studying auction guides, and I don't think that other countries count more artists, engravers or lithographers. I started to believe I had a good idea of what French scripophily could offer. Boy, am I wrong ! Splendour .. amazement .. rarity .. significance .. these are words that instantly crossed my mind when flipping through this collection's catalogue.

Société de l'Ascenseur de la Terrasse de Saint-Germain-en-Layedetail from the certificate abovedesign by Ch. Lapierre and engraving by A. Napierprinted by Imprimerie G. Richard

La Belle France
In this special auction 500 French stocks and bonds will be sold separately. The collection was brought together over a period of 25 years by an European collector, wishing to stay anonymous. Auctioneer Mario Boone says : “In my view, the greatest joy that comes with being an auctioneer is the privilege that one gets to see, catalogue and research truly superb collections such as this one. Despite being a leading auctioneer of French scripophily since many years, I have never before come across so many rarities and novelties as in this collection. That we can auction this collection, which has been built and treasured for decades, is deeply honouring.”

Lot 291 : Revillon Frères500 francs share, Paris 1908The company had fur shops in Paris, London, New York, Moscow, Montreal and elsewhereOnly two pieces known according to the auctioneer

Revillon Frèresdetail from the certificate abovegrandiose design by A. Antigueprinted by Imp. Lahure

À chacun son goût

The collection covers three centuries, all major industries and themes and is also geographically most interesting. It includes not only, as mostly seen, Paris-issued shares, but also many pieces from other French cities and departments. Besides French colonial shares, the auction contains sections with French companies operating in Australasia, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin and North America including California Gold Rush certificates.

If you start collecting stocks and bonds from France, you need to learn a bit of French. Many words can easily be understood because they are written similarly to the corresponding word in English. Some examples : automobiles, fruits coloniaux (colonial fruit), banque (bank), compagnie (company), edit (edict), funiculaire (funicular) and navigation.

However, other expressions are less obvious to derive. Here is a list of 100 French terms that you will observe sooner or later on those nice papers. You will also find out that the French language often provides words that are pleasant to pronounce, e.g. tuilerie and messagerie fluviale.

F.L.

Lot 361 : Société Pyrénéenne d'Entreprises500 Francs share, 1919, ParisThe company was founded in 1919 to make dams, hydroelectric facilities and bridges in the Pyrenees.printed by Union des Arts Graphiques

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

BEKSA wasjointly set up by Sabanci and the Belgian Bekaert company in Turkey for the production of steel cord. The auction contains several specimens from the Sabanci business empire.

Seeing this BEKSA share certificate brings back some nice memories. Ten years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the plant in Izmit.

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The certificate on the cover is a 1778 share of 1000 Livres in the Compagnie de la Guyane. The company was granted a monopoly concession for trading slaves by the King of France.The share belonged to Jean Lafaurie (1914-2008), the former Conservateur of the Cabinet de Medailles of the National Library in Paris.

In Behind the Numbers, you can discover the secrets and the functioning of the stock exchange in the historical Bruxelles stock exchange building itself. On display are remarkable objects lent by a dozen of Belgian and foreign institutions, including a handful of authentic US stock certificates, a number of 19th century Belgian bond and share certificates (facsimiles) and one facsimile of the oldest stock from the Westfries Archives in Holland (see alsohere).

Learn and experience about the numbers

The exhibition, an initiative by TREETOP ASSET MANAGEMENT, consists of three parts:

What is the stock exchange ? provides non-specialists with the prerequisite keys for reading, in order to help follow the rest of the exhibit.

A history of stock exchanges shows the evolution of the stock exchange in parallel with economic development, in Europe first, later worldwide.

How does the stock exchange work ? shows how the stock exchange forms as part of the economy, and how it benefits those who use it.

Christophe Gaeta, the scenographer of the Antwerp Red Star Line Museum, did the scenography for this exhibition as well. Gaeta created three immense cylinders, encircled by ticker tape, to evoke the constant whirlwind of stock market information. Inside the cylinders, visitors will be able to discover surprising interactive and entertaining installations (video mapping). Furthermore, the artist Charles Sandison reveals his artistic view on the stock exchange in a special piece of art 'The Mirror Room'.

The front certificate on display here, is a 1920 Ansonia Clock Company stock certificate. This clock manufacturing business started in Ansonia, Connecticut, in 1851. It moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1878 and produced hundreds of clock models. After WWI the company faced fierce competition. In 1929 the majority of the machinery and tooling were sold to the Soviet government's US trading company Amtorg, just before the stock market crash. The parts, machinery and key skilled workers were shipped out of the USA to form the basis of the clock and watch industry in Moscow, e.g.: Poljot.Source: Wikipedia; Copyright picture: Serge Marteaux

Tip : interested in antique stocks and bonds ?On 1 November the Boone's international bourse of antique stocks and bonds takes place at the Bruxelles NH Carrefour de l'Europe Hotel, by foot less than 10 minutes away from the exhibition. See morethere.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

detail from the share certificate belowsignature of the artist Tomasz in lower right borderdouble-click image to enlarge

Collector gems on Facebook

Last week a collector friend tagged me in a Facebook post. I was pleasantly suprised reading that he "nominated" me for the #scripophilychallenge. Cool. The idea is that, once nominated, you post an image of your favorite bond or share certificate on Facebook, explain briefly why you like it, and, important, that you nominate three other collector friends. Certainly an opportunity to discover what more scripophily gems are out there. Sounds like fun, doesn't it.

Basically, the game is an online chain letter which contains a message that attempts to convince the recipients (the nominated ones) to make a number of copies of the message and then pass them on to a number of recipients. The scripophily community on Facebook isn't a big one, so be careful, try to nominate friends who have not been nominated yet. Otherwise, your friends might end up getting nominated ten times a week for the entire season.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

The International Bond and Share Society, sets its next (members only) auction date to 2 October 2015. This auctions counts more than 200 lots, representing about 40 countries and an equal number of themes.

Paleis voor Volksvlijt te Amsterdam

in English: Amsterdam Crystal Palace

Share of 2.5 Gulden, 1869

lot 138 in the auction

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--

Founded 1856 to exploit a building for national and international exhibitions

of industry, theatrical and musical performances. The palace, based on

Paxton’s Crystal Palace in London, was completed near the Frederiksplein

in Amsterdam, 1864. Erected with glass and iron, it was the creation of

Cornelis Outshoorn. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed this building on 18 april 1929.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Millions of Syrian families have left their destroyed country in search for better human conditions. So far, a few hundred thousand parents and children made a dangerous journey to Europe in order to find a better life. There are many more to come. Few of Europe's national leaders recognize the current scale of this tragedy and realize how the refugee problematics will evolve. These capable politicians are prepared to take fully fledged measures. Bravo Germany, "a strong country will manage", indeed.

Other European politicians do not dare to take the right decisions. They forgot that, long ago, our great-grandparents were also, in times of war, on the run with children and elderly. And our great-grandparents sought and found protection in European countries too.

Yes, this is not the usual scripophily post, but I feel upset about how slow some of our national leaders are addressing the situation. They should be aware that the decision whether or not to provide shelter, relief and care, is not a political but a humane one.

What is luxury? Kann denn Luxus Sünde sein - Can luxury be a sin, the new temporary exhibition from Wertpapierwelt, examines various aspects of this age-old question. On display are not only objects that can be assigned to individual aspects of luxury but also about 50 shares and bonds of companies that "produced" luxury. The exposition investigates the complexity of the subject along with all its social and economic facets. Dagmar Schönig, curator of Wertpapierwelt, clarifies Visitors will find out what different emotions that the mere word luxury evokes in each and every one of us .

A premiere for scripophily exhibitions, visitors can make use of the Wertpapierwelt app on their Apple or Android smartphone. The app was created as a digital museum guide in German, English and French. Visitors can also borrow a tablet-pc and walk through the room. Whenever they are interested in learning more about a specific item, they can photograph the QR-code attached to it and get all the information including the high resolution images of the exhibited stocks and bonds.

Wertpapierwelt's app can be usedon Apple and Android devices.

Wertpapierwelt
Wertpapierwelt is run by the Stiftung Sammlung historischer Wertpapiere (Foundation "Collection of Historical Securities"). The museum is located in the town of Olten, only a one hour's drive away from Zürich, Bern and Basel.

John Mackintosh and Sons, Limiteddetail from the share certificate aboveMackintosh started producing Toffee-De-Luxe chocolate sweets in 1917.Today we still know Rolo and Quality Street goodies,which Mackintosh brought to the market in the 1930s.Image courtesy by Wertpapierwelt

Practical exhibition info :

Place to be : Wertpapierwelt Museum, Baslerstrasse 90, Olten, Switzerland

Opening hours : Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

Entrance: free entry for ages under 10, CHF 8.00 for ages under 18 and CHF 10.00 for adults; free entrance with the Swiss Museum Pass

The 9-minute movie can be seen hereon the museum's YouTube channel.The Swedish singer/actress featuring in it, is the very special Zarah Leander .The original song title is “Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein” (Can love be a sin).

For the video the museum adapted the song's lyrics and had a professional singer to dub it.

F.L.

Two tips for visitors with extra time:
1. Can luxury be a sin is actually a part of a threefold exhibition. These are the two permanent sections :

The Story of capitalism – How shares changed the world is devoted to the origin and spread of the joint stock company throughout the last 400 years.

2. A fictitious trading workplace has been setup with two PCs having access to the collection's database. The database contains both the fronts and backs of all the approximate 10,000 securities in the collection.